Ma’Kye Taylor has given Imhotep an unexpected boost during its playoff run

Andre Noble thought Ma’Kye Taylor was being too optimistic in the fall, about a month after Taylor had suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee.

The doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia told the Imhotep Charter senior that it would likely be four to five months until he could get back on the court, putting his season in jeopardy.

But based on the way his early recovery was going, Taylor said he would be back to play in his senior year. Noble wasn’t counting on it.

“I didn’t even really believe him,” said Noble, who has led the Panthers’ program for 23 seasons. “He hit his recovery really hard, but I still didn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Kye, there’s no way.’ ”

As it turns out, there was a way.

Taylor was back on the court by the end of January, and is relishing getting to be part of one final playoff push in his high school career. The 6-foot-7 forward got his first start of the season on Saturday, helping the Panthers to a 62-47 win over Archbishop Ryan in the District 12 Class 5A championship game.

“[My emotions are] high,” Taylor said. “Because I wasn’t supposed to be back this season, I was supposed to be sitting another year due to a torn meniscus, but I fought through it.”

Taylor was hurt in late September while competing in West Chester’s fall league. It was on the same day he’d made his college decision to play college basketball at Albany.

» READ MORE: Imhotep Charter’s Makye Taylor lands at Albany after ‘rough’ start in basketball journey

By midweek, doctors told Taylor that he needed surgery. For a ballplayer who’d missed his eighth and ninth grade seasons after breaking his left kneecap twice, the idea of missing out on his last year with ‘Tep was a lot to take in.

“That kind of hurt,” Taylor said. “But you know, I kept my head down, worked through it; this isn’t anything I haven’t been through before.”

Those two years away from the court benefited Taylor, who understood that physical therapy and rehab can make the difference in a speedy recovery.

It wasn’t long until he was ahead of schedule.

“I knew how to go about it, I think that’s what really helped me through it — it wasn’t nothing new to me,” Taylor said. “I would say maybe like a month into my rehab, I was moving a lot better, laterally and jumping a lot better, so it was just like, I knew I was going to be back.”

It was on Jan. 30, against Mastery North, when Taylor finally took the court. He came off the bench for the next seven games as the Panthers won their fourth straight Public League championship.

He got into the starting lineup against Ryan but was still part of a constantly-rotating group of forwards, which includes classmate Jeremiah White and freshman Zion Green. Taylor contributed two points, three rebounds, and three steals in the victory.

“It’s a balance of what we’re doing with him now, because he’s still not 100 percent,” Noble said. “We’re still watching his minutes and not trying to do too much. ...We figured out, I think, a happy medium where he feels like he needs to be a part of what we’re doing without putting too much strain on him.

“We needed him [Saturday]. He gives us another really good body to be physical with. Partnering him with Jeremiah has been really helpful.”

Saturday’s championship was a physical contest between the Public League champions and Catholic League runners-up.

Behind UConn-bound guard Ahmad Nowell (19 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals), Imhotep was too tough for Ryan.

Ryan was led by Thomas Sorber’s 17 points, six rebounds, seven blocks, and two assists. However, Nowell and sophomore R.J. Smith (11 points, five assists, four rebounds), gave the big man little to no room to operate.

White also had a strong effort Saturday. He finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and a block.

“When I was injured, and he was starting, I was watching all the games, I was kind of in his ear, even when he was having a bad game,” Taylor said of White. “He’s my counterpart, so I’ve got to encourage him, pick him up. Playing back together feels great.”

» READ MORE: Ryan Everett’s three-pointer at the Palestra marks Archbishop Ryan and PCL history

Imhotep will take on Pottstown, the sixth seed out of District 1, in the first round of the state playoffs on Friday. Archbishop Ryan faces Sun Valley, the District 1 fourth seed.

Imhotep’s win over Ryan marked the third consecutive year that the Panthers have beaten the Raiders in the city Class 5A championship. The two also met in last year’s PIAA state semifinals, which concluded in a 72-50 Imhotep win.

“Every year our goals are to win the pub, win the state, and try to put ourselves in the position to be nationally ranked if we can,” Noble said. “We’re in all those positions, we’ve just got to finish the deal.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.